Linking Conan Include to VS Code

Question

I'm currently using Conan on a C++ project using sqlite_orm as a dependency.

When using my personal include (like myClass.hpp for example) Visual Studio Code is able to provide auto-completion but with Conan's include, no auto-completion is possible.

I'm looking for a way to link the include path of Conan to my VSCode, any idea?

Grano

Can you provide an example of your CMake files to show what you have tried so far? – Decennium

Answer 1

Add the following line in your project's .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json file

"includePath": ["${workspaceFolder}/**", "~/.conan/data/**"]

Primula

Works but requires a restart of VSCode. – Singletree

For me it worked with vscode 1.48.0 without restarting. Thanks for this – Mange

Doesn't work on windows. C:/.conan is the directory and it doesn't contain data . – Roeder

Oh and ~/.conan/data doesn't contain any header files, they are all located in C:/.conan/somehash/1/include – Roeder

But adding C:/.conan/** doesn't work either. github.com/microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools/issues/1213 – Roeder

I'm gonna stick with VS19/CLion until this is fixed. – Roeder

for windows in JSON config file for all cpp projects "C_Cpp.default.includePath": ["${workspaceFolder}/**","${env:USERPROFILE}/.conan/data/**"] – Balf

With the new conan2: ~/.conan2/** this works. – Delaryd

@divyanshu-kalra this is the most updated and helpful answer. I think the answer should be edited to amend with conan 2's new path. – Vivien

Answer 2

Add set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON) to your CMakeLists.txt (or add to cmake: cmake -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON ..) so a build/compile_commands.json will be generated.

VS Code (clion, etc) can utilize this file to support auto complete:

$ cat .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json
{
    "configurations": [
    {
        "name": "Linux",
            "defines": [],
            "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/g++",
            "cStandard": "c11",
            "cppStandard": "c++14",
            "intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64",
            "compileCommands": "${workspaceFolder}/build/compile_commands.json"
    }
    ],
    "version": 4
}

Mcghee

Thanks a lot for this, also for anyone trying this I think you should be aware that some versions may differ, so please check down your build folder for the compile_commands.json file an then specify the correct path :) – Grishilde

Answer 3

Conan doesn't provide an extension for vscode yet, but you can try:

https://github.com/FIREFOXCYBER/conan-tools-vs-code

It's available on marketplace.

Otherwise, you can add manually the package folder path (e.g. ~/.conan/data/package/version/package/package_id/include) in your settings.

Abamp

Answer 4

A combination of dvorak4tzx's and spanishgum's answers, combined with VS Code's option for Customizing default settings is the following option:

Generate a build/compile_commands.json eiter by adding to CMakeLists.txt:

set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)

or on the command line:

cmake -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON

And then insert into .vscode/settings.json:

"C_Cpp.default.compileCommands": "${workspaceFolder}/build/compile_commands.json",

Note: I experienced trouble if

"configurationProvider": "ms-vscode.cmake-tools"

was part of the c_cpp_properties.json. Without it, the IntelliSense works as expected.

I would argue that "includePath": ["${workspaceFolder}/**", "~/.conan/data/**"] is not desired, as you may have many versions of each library beneath ~/.conan/data.

---

Sources:

• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/faq-cpp#_how-do-i-get-intellisense-to-work-correctly
• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/customize-default-settings-cpp
• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/variables-reference#_predefined-variables

Geniculate

Answer 5

After searching in the settings of VSCode, I found that you can change the path of your include in c_cpp_properties.json file that you can find in your .vscode folder

Adding the path you want in the includePath field allow you to choose your own include path

Grano

Answer 6

I want to add that you can also use the .vscode/settings.json file as an alternative to .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json.

For example, I just set up a project with this:

{
  "C_Cpp.clang_format_path": "/usr/lib/llvm-10/bin/clang-format",
  "C_Cpp.default.includePath": [
    "~/.conan/data/**"
  ],
}

Schistosomiasis

Answer 7

VS Code integration with Conan is limited, but the CMake plugin is highly configurable.

In a project directory, my_project,

• add the following JSON to my_project/.vscode/settings.json

  {
      "cmake.configureArgs": [
          "-DCMAKE_MODULE_PATH=${workspaceFolder}/build"
      ],
  }
  

• choose a find_package-friendly Conan generator such cmake_find_package (Conan 1) or CMakeDeps (Conan 2)

• use conan install to initialise a build folder in my_project/build

• from the CMake plugin, select the Delete Cache and Reconfigure action.

This is the incantation that works for me currently. The UI and plugins change often, but this works in VS Code 1.92, with CMake plugin 0.0.17. I assume you're using CMake to model your artifacts.

Andes